Three Oriental Cards

In the last two days, I have received three

beautiful Oriental cards, each with

its own story to tell.

The first card comes from San, who is from Donggang in Taiwan.

San translated much of the main parts of the card into Chinese writing,

including her name, my name, the name of her town, and the famous

industry of the port, black tuna. San also tells me that this card pictures

the PILI puppet show (also translated) in Taiwan.

The Pili puppet show is one of the most popular TV shows in Taiwan. It began

in 1985 and still continues today. Unlike traditional puppet shows, this

one uses state-of-the-art animation to help present its fighting art.

I found this picture of some Pili Merchandise

on the internet.

These pretty flower stamps

brought Sans card to me today.
I thank you, San, for such an interesting

card!

The second card comes from Miko, who tells me

that this is a view of Matsushima, Miyaji Prefecture. She said that Matsushima

is one of 'The three most beautiful places in Japan." She also says that

there are many small and beautiful islands in the sea of Matsushima, and

most of them are covered by Pine trees. 'Matsushima' means

'The Pine Islands' in Japanese.

The island in the picture is Zaimoku, a name that means 'woods' in Japanese.

In researching this place on the internet, I found another picture of

the same rock formation. However, it was shown as an arch, which has

now collapsed, leaving the unique tower of rock. Zaimoku is the most

famous of the islands of Matsushima.

And here are some more beautiful

flower stamps, these being

from Japan.

Thank you, Miko, for the nice card and stamps!

The third of my Oriental cards is a view of Mount Fuji in Japan.

However, it was sent to me by Mandy, an American teacher of English

in the Peoples Republic of China. She lives in Nanjing, Jiangsu.

Mount Fuji is 3776 meters high, and it is Japan's highest mountain.

It has a nearly perfect shaped volcano, and it has been dormant since 1708.

At one time, it was worshipped as a sacred mountain. It is very popular

with artists and with common people.

This very pretty stamp was on Mandy's card and, although

I cannot read Chinese, it looks like it has a large bird

flying across a river and, perhaps, over the world.

Thank you, Mandy, for the beautiful card and for another

chance to indulge in my passion for research!